U.S. Justice Department Intervenes in Football Redskins’ Trademark Case

Government to Defend Law That NFL Team Says Is Unconstitutional

By

Joe Palazzolo

Jan. 9, 2015 6:34 pm ET

The U.S. Justice Department has inserted itself into a legal dispute between the Washington Redskins and a group of Native Americans who want the professional football team to abandon its name.

The agency will intervene in the case for the “limited purpose” of defending a federal law that prohibits disparaging trademarks, Justice Department lawyers said in a court filing on Friday.

In June, an administrative court in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office held the Redskins name wasn’t worthy of federal trademark protection because it disparages Native Americans. The 2-1 ruling was the culmination of long-running efforts by five Native Americans—
Amanda Blackhorse,
Marcus Briggs,
Philip Gover,
Jillian Pappan
and
Courtney Tsotigh
—to scotch the name.

Pro-Football Inc., the company that owns the Redskins, filed a federal lawsuit in August challenging the trademark office’s ruling, which it described as “replete with errors of fact and law.” That suit also challenges the constitutionality of a federal law prohibiting trademarks that “disparage...persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols.”

“The government may not withhold a benefit from the Club or anyone else on a basis that impinges upon the right of free speech,” lawyers for the team wrote in their lawsuit filed in Virginia.

Jeffrey J. Lopez,
a partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, who represents Ms. Blackhorse and the others, said he believed the Justice Department’s intervention “will help our Native American clients ultimately to prevail.”

Lawyers for the Redskins didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Federal law permits the Justice Department to intervene in cases in which the constitutionality of a federal statute is under challenge.

The Justice Department didn’t take a position on the trademark office’s ruling, though Attorney General
Eric Holder
has said in interviews that the Redskins name is offensive and ought to be changed.

Joyce R. Branda,
the acting head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said her aim was to protect the trademark office’s discretion in cases involving controversial trademarks. “Going forward, we will strive to maintain the ability of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to make its own judgment on these matters, based on clear authorities established by law,” she said in an emailed statement.